Chicken Chorizo Meatballs

It’s Mexican Monday everybody! I’m too afraid to go back through and find out when my last Mexican Monday post was, I’m sure it’s so far back it’d be embarrassing. And a little sad. Our Mexican Monday endeavor has finally kicked the bucket. Not intentionally, mind you, and I can come up with all sorts of scheduling related excuses. And there’s always that feeling of getting caught in a rut.

But not today! (Or well, the day we made and ate these.) Today there’s a brand new Mexicany (it’s a word, don’t worry about it) recipe to share. Meatballs with chorizo! Aka meatballs with flavor! I used ground chicken instead of ground beef because that’s what I had, but I definitely want to try these with ground beef, too, I imagine they’d be even better!

I’m not quite sure what pasta/sauce pairing would work with these so I would suggest using these for some game day grub or party appetizer. Queso makes a great dipper, or salsa, sour cream, even guacamole. They’d probably even work over top a taco salad, too.

Chicken Chorizo Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 onion, minced

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

3/4 C panko breadcrumbs

1/2 C grated cheese (I used a combo of Monterrey and Colby Jack)

1 tbsp dried cilantro

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1 lb ground chicken

2 links Mexican chorizo, skins removed

Steps:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet.

In a small skillet over medium-high heat saute onion in olive oil until tender. Add the garlic and cook another minute, set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together egg and milk. Add the panko, cooked onion and garlic, cheese, and spices. Mix in the meat; I found a fork worked well to incorporate the chorizo into the chicken. Season with S+P.

Form into golf ball sized meatballs; I found wetting my hands helpful in preventing the mixture from sticking to me. Place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake 12-15 minutes, until an internal temperature of 165 degrees F is reached.